Newbie buying a 90's Roadmaster ?

I thought Lloyd Elliott is at AI, no?

 

No. Lloyd has been around in his own shop for a long time and he is a nice guy. He does heads by hand and will match up cams, too, if you want. Although, he is using Bullet Cams lately. He is cheaper because he doesn't have the investment in machinery that AI has.
Advanced Induction does the heads with a CNC machine. Over the years, they have kept up through customer feed back to perfect the machining for great consistency. They are top notch and most racer's use them.
Lloyd is a nice guy and many people use him. Mostly for the cheaper cost. But AI has all the machines, flow benches and research for doing consistent, powerful and flowing good heads. They match the cam to the driver through numbers. If I was going that route, and I almost did, I would select AI hands down.

 

Sewer pipe and hockey pucks.
Hey, I can laugh, I have a b-body...
And a hockey puck in there.

 

..............and swiss cheese!

 

Yah us "Chevy guys" are a classy bunch...

 

The Good, the Bad, the Ugly

Hi Guys,


I know Silverfox told me...


A couple sleepless nights later, and a few thousand miles down the road, I meet up with the Grey Low Miles Caprice.


THE GOOD:

Mechanically, the car runs very well, aside from the knock in the A/C compressor. It is a far nicer car than I expected after the Roady sled ride in the Vermont hills. It's steering is precise compared to a 99 Town Car. It's ride is smooth, its suspension fine. It picks up and cruises well, and brakes fine. The underside is clean and without rust.


THE BAD:

The car's trim had been removed and was sitting on the garage floor. He said he removed it because it was in such bad shape. The trim had hash marks all along its length as if hammered by a machete. It also had dark stains that were rust colored. It was rubber which seemed to be coated in body color grey. I couldn't figure how it could be so beat up and the car not be marked up. Later the seller tells me his brother in law owns a body shop in Miami.

The A/C knocks and was confirmed by the dealership to be damaged and that parts were probably floating around in the system. Quote of over $1100 for its lifetime guarantee replacement or $460 if I brought in my own parts.

The car is very humid inside, smelling like a water logged old boat. The seller says that it has a small leak at the rear quarter panel but the entire car smells like it has been under water. The seller's daughter said that her father had changed the hinges which hold the 3rd row seat in place because they were totally RUSTED. Not normal inside a car.


THE UGLY:

The service manager at the dealership buddies up with the seller telling each other fishing stories. I had informed the seller that I wanted to have it inspected there. Apparently they "hit it off". To my mention of the rancid reeking smell, he said he had very fine sense of smell and that it was nothing a good carpet cleaning wouldn't fix. After more than an hour wait his report was that there were no issues except the A/C and 3/32" tread, but upon the seller's insistence he rescinded the latter saying that the mechanic had made a mistake in checking the wrong box on the inspection report and that it was 7/32".

When I went to pay the $40 the seller insisted he wanted to pay, and presented him his credit card. The service manager said, "you know what, I'm not going to charge you since we didn't do anything". To which the seller slipped him a few bills.

Call me suspicious, but I suspect that the seller went over there when I was airborne and arranged a deal with him. No billed inspection removes all liability for falsehood. I think this car may have fallen into a canal and being uninsured wasn't reported. It was dried off


So it looks like we're in for a family vacation in a rental car, and that the wagon will be for some other day, week or month. It is a shame because its frame and drivetrain are nice, but I can't go for a car that's been dunked.

Thanks for all your advice, and Silverfox knew something like this all along.

Cheers,

Vic

 

I didn't know....just suspected.
I'm just very glad you didn't buy it, Vic. I don't call you suspicious...I call you smart. Trust me...there will be better ones around. From what you say...that car probably would have lost its floors in no time.

 

WISE decision..........

Pretty transparent fake 'inspection' setup..

 

That's lousy, sorry to have roped you into that one Vic. The seller didn't mention any of this before?.... on the phone? email?.... what a...... never mind.

While you are down there, and on your way back up north keep looking.
I will... well if you want any more of my opinions.

I'm going to say this, I doubt it was dunked, or submerged, that car would have some strange electrical problems and the light gray interior would have at least a few water stains. Probably more likley the a/c condensate was leaking into the car, or it has or has a water leak at the roof rack or windows. You could remedy this, but it is much more than shampooing the carpet, you would have to remove the interior, hose it down and find and fix the leak(s). Offer him $2,000.00, it would be worth it then.

The hinge for the tail gunner seat was rusted pretty good on my '94 RMW when I bought it. It took quite a bit to get it to loosen up.

Mike

 

You didn't rope anyone, 200OZ. Vic went in with his eyes open and won. No problem. Besides...it's hard to tell the condition of a car from online pix. I thought it looked good from the original pix too. The second round of pix turned me off and the sellers responses shut me down but I think you were responding to the original pix and ad like I did at first.

 

Hi Silverfox,

I don't know how badly attacked the car is as it didn't seem rusted yet. The only time I smelled this before was visiting Josephine Baker's 1930's wooden Trumpy yacht which was for sale cheap a few years ago. They had fans blasting away to try to air it out but the wood rot was pungent. There was a similar smell here, but from what I cannot say and couldn't see. The seller said that the carpet floor mats had been glued onto the carpet, not a good sign in my book.

There were also various bolts sticking into the doors plus where the inner door handles were there were copper wire contraptions where you put your hand which had been supposedly rigged to prevent static electricity discharges. Could it be to avoid getting 12 volt shocks due to the ambient humidity?

I've come away feeling this is a mystery car. A mystery how it could have ever wound up in such strange contradictory condition. Smooth barely broken in engine and tranny to die for, but some very odd other issues.

Whatever else, it is very overpriced as if it were picture perfect needing nothing. Even at $2k you'd have to be the adventurous sort, and my trek proves me to be but only when there is a backup plan.

Vic

 

This was not smart on behalf of the buyer. I wanted an honest objective assessment of the car before negotiating the price dependent upon condition and necessary repairs. By intervening to control the result the seller showed that he feared I find something out. What this was must have been a deal killer. It may have been serious accident damage, maybe the reason why there's such infiltration of water. Having a body shop in the family doesn't help reduce that consideration. Seeing the service manager at his beck and call was disconcerting at the least, he was repeating what the seller wanted him to say, on demand. Since it was a bank holiday, it may have even been a replacement service manager.

Vic

 

Hi Mike,

Nope, the seller painted a pretty picture of a lonely widow too frail to drive her husband's big car. All mint, of course, with only a bad air conditioner. Today he said there's a leak at the rear left corner, and that he had removed the roof rack bars to seal the bolt holes to no avail.

I don't mind wielding a wrench, but am not about to start gutting interiors. Too many unfinished jobs already, that is why I was looking at $4k cars and not at those under $2k. This one should bring between $1500 and $2200 depending on how skilled and motivated the buyer is. It is an interesting project car for people who know them and are up to tackling the task not counting their hours or efforts.

Oh, and I very much value your opinions which are pertinent and sound. I knew I was venturing into unknown territory here and that anything might give. It wasn't what I had expected, other mechanical issues which could have been solved by simple price subtraction math. Also it wasn't anything which photographs, plus the seller wants top dollar as if nothing were wrong.

Vic

 

Rarely will a car that sounds like a great deal exceed our expectations.
It's best to head into a deal knowing a car won't be worth what the seller is asking.

 

So true. Pix always look better than the car does in person and, being human, and hopeful, we color our own pix in our mind. Best to try and be realistic and to realize that the seller believes HIS car is better than anyone else's car. So, he ups the price beyond the car's value. Be prepared, as Vic was, to walk away if the car is not worth the price or if it is not a solid car.